Zomato said that it has managed to get on board 1.5 lakh subscribers of Zomato Gold, a paid membership service launched recently which allows consumers to avail complimentary food and drinks at restaurants.

The Gurgaon-based company, which now has Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Financial as an investor, said as many as 40% of the total subscriptions sold were through referrals, its founder Deepinder Goyal said in a blog post.

Zomato had under 30,000 subscribers soon after it launched the programme.

Goyal said in the blog, “According to our restaurant partners, increase in new customers and improvement in customer loyalty was the biggest driver for satisfaction with Zomato Gold. Additionally, we found that there is a three times increase in Zomato traffic on Gold vis-a-vis non-Gold restaurants. The increase in inbound requests from restaurant partners (more than 200 per month as we speak) further reinstates the excitement for Zomato Gold in the restaurant owner community.”